At 5:00 a.m. on June 24, 379 runners began the 2023 Western States 100. And what a day these dreamers and doers had.
Climbing from the Palisades Tahoe ski space in Olympic Valley, California, to satisfy the dawn, the runners chased the historic 100.2-mile course by way of its 18,000 ft of elevation achieve and 22,000 ft of loss. The course was made extra wild by previous yr climate, however the day in any other case benefited from favorable temperatures.
Unimaginable snowfall and the late 2022 Mosquito Hearth impacted course circumstances. The primary 15 miles had been impacted by snow, after which runners confronted a newly unshaded 16-mile stretch because of the hearth injury. However race-day temperatures had been properly off the frequent 100-degree-Fahrenheit highs of previous years. It was the race’s fifth-coolest day in historical past.
Courtney Dauwalter setting a brand new course file on the 2023 Western States 100. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Ladies’s winner Courtney Dauwalter (pre-race interview) shattered the longstanding course file. Dauwalter’s 15:29 end was extremely 78 minutes higher than Ellie Greenwood’s 2012 former course finest. Favorable climate seemingly additionally contributed to essentially the most sub-18-hour ladies’s finishes (9) within the race’s historical past. Males’s winner Tom Evans (pre-race interview) from the U.Ok. broke free after Foresthill, mile 62, and completed in 14:40. It was the race’s fourth-fastest ever and made him a 24-minute winner. Learn on for extra particulars on how the race unfolded.
A particular due to HOKA for making our protection of the Western States 100 doable!
2023 Western States 100 Ladies’s Race
Not one of the first 4 ladies from final yr’s race — Ruth Croft, Ailsa MacDonald, Marianne Hogan, Luzia Buehler — returned. That made Zimbabwe’s Emily Hawgood (pre-race interview) the best returning finisher from 2022. Hawgood’s just about a race native now too, dwelling in close by Roseville, California. But it surely was 38-year-old Courtney Dauwalter (pre-race interview) that got here into the race as a favourite. She gained right here in 2018 in 17:27 and was seeking to avenge a late drop on the 2019 race.
Dauwalter was first up the Escarpment. At 2,500 ft, it’s the race’s greatest climb and it occurs immediately within the first three miles. However 2022 UTMB winner Katie Schide (pre-race interview) was proper there too. Schide, an American who’s lived in France for the previous seven years, hit the highest in 46 minutes with Dauwalter and the 2 dropped into the Granite Chief Wilderness collectively. Already Dauwalter and Schide, age 31, had a three-minute lead on third-place Ida Nilsson (pre-race interview) from Sweden.
Ida Nilsson later resupplying in Dusty Corners. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
By mile 11, Lyon Ridge, Dauwalter and Schide’s lead on third-place Nilsson had ballooned to eight minutes. After which it received even larger as the 2 utterly broke away from everybody else. At mile 16, Crimson Star Ridge, nobody was inside 14 minutes of the entrance two. Nilsson, Hawgood, 2023 Black Canyon 100k winner Keely Henninger (pre-race interview), Taylor Nowlin, skilled triathlete-turned-ultrarunner Heather Jackson, Canada’s Priscilla Forgie and Jenny Quilty, and 2022 sixth-place finisher Leah Yingling (pre-race interview) all ran contained in the early high 10.
The Mosquito Hearth restricted crew entry this yr and everybody met their crews for the primary time at mile 30, Robinson Flat. Dauwalter was in at 5:07 and out inside a minute, and nonetheless on her 2019 splits. Schide took an extended break and adjusted sneakers, exiting the help station three minutes behind the chief. The 2 had utterly damaged open the ladies’s race. Nilsson, in her 100-mile debut, had been alone in third thus far, however was now joined by Henninger, Hawgood, and Nowlin.
Courtney Dauwalter rolling into the Duncan Canyon help station early within the race. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
At mile 34, Miller’s Defeat, the course file watch began. Dauwalter and Schide had been beneath Dauwalter’s personal 2019 splits and Ellie Greenwood’s 2012 course file tempo. Dauwalter was 5 minutes up on Greenwood’s splits, and Schide was three minutes quicker. Much more, the 2 had been over half-hour in entrance of third-place Hawgood at mile 38. Dauwalter and Schide had been out entrance for the win and the course file, and the opposite contenders grouped behind them.
Dauwalter was crimson sizzling up the Satan’s Thumb climb at mile 48, however Schide hadn’t given up a lot time. She took longer in help and left six minutes after Dauwalter. Hawgood, Nowlin, and Henninger got here in collectively subsequent, now 40 minutes behind second-place Schide.
At Foresthill, Dauwalter was 25 minutes up on file tempo. Schide conceded solely one other two minutes over the past stretch and was 11 minutes behind Dauwalter. Whereas Dauwalter and Schide had been nonetheless off the entrance, the race dynamic was heating up behind. The third- by way of eighth-place ladies had been all in Foresthill along with solely three minutes separation. Hawgood was there first among the many chase group, however Hungarian dwelling in Hong Kong Eszter Csillag rapidly jumped from eighth at mile 52 to fourth at mile 62. Nilsson was fifth, and Henninger, Katie Asmuth, and Nowlin had been all there too.
Katie Asmuth on the climb Michigan Bluff. Photograph: iRunFar/Jaja Ferrer Capili
Dauwalter ran 2:10 from mile 62 Foresthill to mile 78 on the American River. Solely the lads’s winner would run a faster cut up on this present day, and solely eight males have ever run a quicker cut up within the race. Dauwalter was 5 ranges higher than everybody else, and he or she was boldly racing and not using a pacer too. Schide stayed comfortably in second, however fell additional behind Dauwalter’s quickening tempo and river circumstances necessitated that everybody cross the American River in a ship this yr.
From Foresthill to the river, Katie Asmuth vaulted into third, previous Eszter Csillag and Ida Nilsson. Asmuth was seventh at Foresthill and picked up 4 spots on the downhill Cal Avenue stretch, outrunning frequent expectations in getting back from damage. All three ladies cut up quicker from Foresthill to the river than Schide did and even when the entrance two had been gone, the ladies usually had been operating actually quick. There’s certain to be some unhealthy luck in a 100 miler although, and Henninger fell simply earlier than the river and dislocated her shoulder. She would then drop from the race at mile 80, Inexperienced Gate, resulting from that damage.
Dauwalter’s unimaginable second half and unimaginable race introduced her to the Placer Excessive Faculty monitor end in 15:29. Dauwalter utterly shattered the file books and set a brand new customary that’s more likely to final for a lifetime. Ellie Greenwood’s 16:47 course file had stood since 2012. Dauwalter will subsequent race the excessive altitude 2023 Hardrock 100 in Silverton, Colorado, on July 14. Dauwalter is the Hardrock course file holder, too, however Western States plus Hardrock will definitely be a difficult double.
Schide challenged Dauwalter early, and outpaced the remainder of the ladies’s subject in doing so. Schide was in second for a lot of the day, in the end ending as runner up in 16:43. That was additionally beneath the outdated course file.
Katie Schide taking second on the 2023 Western States 100, beneath the present course file time. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Csillag, who was fifth on the 2022 UTMB, had a outstanding second half to complete third in 17:09. It’s the race’s fourth-fastest run ever. And he or she simply edged out Asmuth, who moved up from final yr’s ninth-place run to complete fourth in 17:21. Asmuth’s time was simply within Ruth Croft’s successful time from final yr, and is the race’s fifth-fastest ever.
Hawgood earned a second straight fifth-place end. In 2022 she was capable of end fifth in 18:16 and on this yr’s quicker race Hawgood was fifth in 17:26. That point ranks eighth-best ever and is simply quicker than what Dauwalter ran to win in 2018.
Taylor Nowlin improved her end place by one from prior yr, however like Hawgood tremendously improved her end time. Nowlin was sixth in 17:40. One-hundred-mile debutante Ida Nilsson was seventh in 17:43, and Priscilla Forgie was simply minutes again in eighth at 17:46. Leah Yingling was a repeat top-10 finisher in ninth at 17:49. For perspective, no yr had seen greater than three ladies end beneath 18 hours earlier than. However this yr 9 ladies completed beneath 18 hours. It’s the new customary for girls’s racing at Western States.
The 25-year-old Meghan Morgan took the prized Tenth-place end in 18:11, thereby guaranteeing an opportunity to mechanically return subsequent yr.
Eszter Csillag getting helped by a volunteer early within the race at Dusty Corners. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2023 Western States 100 Ladies’s Outcomes
- Courtney Dauwalter (Salomon) – 15:29:33 (pre-race interview) (New course file; outdated course file – Ellie Greenwood, 16:47:19 – 2012)
- Katie Schide (The North Face) – 16:43:45 (pre-race interview)
- Eszter Csillag (Hoka) – 17:09:20 (pre-race interview)
- Katie Asmuth (Saucony) – 17:21:06
- Emily Hawgood (Adidas Terrex) – 17:26:22
- Taylor Nowlin (Adidas Terrex) – 17:40:11
- Ida Nilsson (Craft) – 17:43:34 (pre-race interview)
- Priscilla Forgie – 17:46:34
- Leah Yingling (Lululemon) – 17:49:00 (pre-race interview)
- Meghan Morgan (La Sportiva) – 18:11:32
Leah Yingling, Eszter Csillag, and Meghan Morgan operating collectively at Robinson Flat. Photograph: iRunFar/Jaja Ferrer Capili
2023 Western States 100 Males’s Race
There’s nowhere to go however up initially of the Western States 100, and Jia-Ju Zhao from China charged the opening climb. Regardless of snow, Zhao hit the highest in 42 minutes. Slower to the highest, Frenchman Mathieu Blanchard (pre-race interview) and Brit Tom Evans (pre-race interview) turned to greet the sensible dawn collectively.
Zhao gained the Extremely-Path Mt. Fuji 100 Mile in April 2023 and is a two-time winner of the Doi Inthanon by UTMB 100 Mile in Thailand. He pushed his early result in 5 minutes at Lyon Ridge, mile 11, whereas 2022 fourth-placer Tyler Inexperienced led the early chase group. Inexperienced had completed as excessive as second right here earlier than, in 2021, however was operating extra aggressively towards the entrance sooner than ever earlier than.
Tyler Inexperienced opening up his stride later within the race coming into Foresthill. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
From mile-15 Crimson Star Ridge to mile-25 Duncan Canyon, the chase group began to make up time on Zhao. Tom Evans, Chinese language runner Jia-Sheng Shen, and Dakota Jones (pre-race interview) had been amongst a gaggle that lower 4 minutes from Zhao’s lead over simply 9 miles. Evans was third right here in 2019 in 14:59, and Jones had simply biked 680 miles from his house in Utah to the race begin.
Zhao was rapidly swallowed up within the subsequent 5 miles to Robinson Flat, mile 30, and shortly fell out of the highest 10. A lead trio of Tom Evans, Dakota Jones, and Jia-Sheng Shen got here into help at 4:45, assembly their crews for the primary time. At mile 30 and with Zhao falling backward, Anthony Costales (pre-race interview) was fourth, after which he was with Tyler Inexperienced at mile 38 in fourth and fifth. The 2 would barely separate the remainder of the race.
Anthony Costales later racing as much as Michigan Bluff. Photograph: iRunFar/Jaja Ferrer Capili
Evans and Jones dropped Shen on the climb to Satan’s Thumb, mile 48, and the 2 leaders got here into help collectively in 7:03. 4 minutes again Costales had caught Shen on the large climb, and Tyler Inexperienced, Jeff Colt, New Zealand’s Daniel Jones, Ryan Montgomery, Mathieu Blanchard, and 47-year-old Ludovic Pommeret had been inside the highest 10. These six had been 14 minutes aside. 2022 third- and second-place finishers Arlen Glick (pre-race interview) and Hayden Hawks (pre-race interview) had been again in Eleventh and sixteenth, respectively. After earlier shifting up, Hawks had simply misplaced a number of locations and would later drop with damage at mile 55. Different top-10 finishers from 2022 Cody Lind, Scott Traer, and Alex Nichols had been all noticeably outdoors the highest 10 too.
Because the race shifted to its mile-62 Foresthill hub, Evans gained some separation on Jones and entered the help station first, however as Evans modified sneakers and socks, Jones didn’t wait and exited first. Jones was now within the lead by himself for the primary time and he was overheard voicing his intention to interrupt Evans. Some 11 minutes again of these two leaders, Inexperienced and Costales had been once more collectively and in third and fourth. Shen and Jeff Colt had been simply minutes again of these two, and Colt was remarkably virtually an hour quicker than a yr in the past when he completed Eleventh.
Tom Evans and Dakota Jones locked in a duel climbing to Michigan Bluff. Photograph: iRunFar/Jaja Ferrer Capili
Jones and Evans separated leaving Foresthill and anticipation ran excessive for his or her subsequent steps. The 2 had been collectively for practically the whole lot of the race thus far. Jones wished to make a transfer and Evans wished to maintain up with (the) Jones. The duel ended rapidly and dramatically although. Tom Evans dropped a 5:54 downhill mile and hit Cal 2, mile 71, in 10:12. That surge pushed Jones eight minutes again at mile 71. It was simply 9 miles from Foresthill to that cut up on Cal Avenue, however the entrance two had shattered and moved in reverse instructions the remainder of the race.
Evans ran alone to the river crossing at mile 78, and in the end to the end. Tyler Inexperienced, Anthony Costales, Jeff Colt, and Jia-Sheng Shen all overtook Dakota Jones on the way in which to the river too. Neglect about Elm Avenue, Jones was having a little bit of a nightmare on Cal Avenue.
Evans, the 2022 UTMB third placer, continued to place time on the sphere the remainder of the way in which. He completed in 14:40 and that’s the race’s fourth quickest end ever. The mark trails solely Jim Walmsley and Jared Hazen in 2019, and Walmsley’s 2018 mark too. Evans was a runaway winner, however the remainder of the highest 10 was way more carefully packed.
Tom Evans successful the 2023 Western States 100 in 14:40. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Tyler Inexperienced pushed on in second, and held off an Anthony Costales chase over the past 15 miles. Inexperienced completed in 15:04. It was his second runner-up end and a giant private finest for the course. He was capable of end together with his child boy on his shoulders. Inexperienced’s 15:04 was the race’s Eleventh-fastest end ever. Costales was third in 15:09, the race’s Thirteenth-fastest end ever.
Jia-Sheng Shen and Daniel Jones each completed quick. Shen clocked 15:19 and Jones was fifth in 15:22. Mathieu Blanchard and Ryan Montgomery each overtook Jeff Colt late. These three — Blanchard, Montgomery, and Colt — completed in 15:37, 15:38, and 15:42, respectively. Native runner Cole Watson bettered his 2022 14th-place end with a ninth-place 15:54.
In 2019 the highest 10 all went beneath 16 hours. This yr’s Tenth-place man Janosch Kowalcyzk from Germany simply missed matching that feat. He completed in 16:09.
Seven of final yr’s high 10 returned, however solely Tyler Inexperienced was capable of once more make the highest 10. The 2022 high 10 finishers Ludovic Pommeret, Arlen Glick, Scott Traer, and Cody Lind completed twelfth, Thirteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth this yr, respectively. Alex Nichols stays on track on the time of this writing, and, as earlier talked about, 2022 runner-up Hayden Hawks dropped.
After operating close to or within the lead by way of Foresthill, Dakota Jones completed seventeenth in 17:00.
Early chief Zhao’s excessive danger, excessive reward begin ended with a drop at Michigan Bluff, mile 55.
Jeff Colt approaching the river crossing on his strategy to ending eighth. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2023 Western States 100 Males’s Outcomes
- Tom Evans (Adidas Terrex) – 14:40:22 (pre-race interview)
- Tyler Inexperienced (Nike) – 15:04:09
- Anthony Costales – 15:09:16 (pre-race interview)
- Jia-Sheng Shen (The North Face) – 15:19:42
- Daniel Jones (Asics) – 15:22:15
- Mathieu Blanchard (Salomon) – 15:37:02 (pre-race interview)
- Ryan Montgomery (Altra) – 15:38:35
- Jeff Colt (On) – 15:42:09
- Cole Watson (Hoka) – 15:54:36
- Janosch Kowalczyk (Adidas Terrex) – 16:09:19
Jia-Sheng Shen approaching the river crossing on his strategy to taking fourth. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Protection Thanks
Thanks a lot to the next people who helped iRunFar cowl this race: Marissa Harris, Lance Hartzler, Casey Wyatt, Rachel and Michael Barrington, Jaja and A.J. Ferrer Capili, Andy-Jones Wilkins, Makiko Yamashita, Jec Ballou, Kirk Edgerton, Martin and Alison Nash, Julie Sachs, Grace Lattyak, Peach Villalobos, Mike Dasalla, Rachael Sage, and Sonia Lachapelle! Our race manufacturing is a neighborhood manufacturing!
